Various attempts have been made to illuminate a toilet at night for male users. However, the disadvantages of the prior art are that the lights are attached to the unsanitary rim portion of a toilet bowl, or are placed on the seat at the hinge portion therefore in the vicinity of the unsanitary rim of the toilet bowl.
Among these patents include U.S. Pat. No. 2,206,094 of Hobbs, U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,677 of Frey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,361,677 of Bramhall, U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,019 of Niles, U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,543 of Spierer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,097 of Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 2,721,531 of Findley, U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,716 of Mackey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,764 of Headlee, U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,850 of Reilly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,020,528 of Swanson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,096 of Clayton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,447 of Dorman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,288 of Borne, U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,364 of Bittaker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,991 of Herbruck, U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,768 of Kulhavy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,955 of Santini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,474 of Ogura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,419 of Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,471 of Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,742 of Warrington, U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,178 of Picon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,749 of Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,648 of Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,443 of Humble, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,130 of Sanders, U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,962 of Rauschenberger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,209 of Pattee, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,595 of Patrie.
Hobbs '094 describes a gravity actuated light which lights when an automobile hood is raised.
Frey '677 describes a small manually operable reading light.
Smith '097 describes a toilet seat sanitizer which includes a sanitizing light which is actuated by the weight of a user sitting upon the toilet seat. Niles '019 and Spierer '543 also describe an ultraviolet sanitizer for a toilet.
Finley '531, Mackey '716, Headlee '764, Swanson '528 Branthall '677, Roberts '749 and Sanders '130 each describe toilet signaling devices which provide lights, music or other diversions to infants during toilet training.
Reilly '850 describes a light for a toilet which provides a constant illumination of the water within the toilet bowl.
Clayton '096 provides a heat lamp which heats a toilet seat, which is inactivated when the toilet is used.
Dorman '447 describes a telephone light with an activation switch.
Borne '288 describes a translucent lighted toilet seat with a curvilinear light rod therein. It cannot be retrofit to existing opaque toilet seats.
Bittaker '364 describes a light which attaches over the unsanitary toilet bowl rim, and which requires an external wire attached to a switch.
Herbruck '991 describes a combination alarm light and buzzer which is attached to the lid cover, and which is activated when the seat in a lifted vertical position contacts the mechanism on the lid.
Similar to Herbruck '991, the toilet light described in Johnson '471 is activated by lifting of a toilet seat lid cover. However, because the toilet seat covers are usually kept at all hours in an up position, the toilet light of Johnson '471 has a tendency to use up batteries, since rarely is the toilet seat lid cover kept in a lowered position upon the toilet seat. The resultant energy waste causes increased costs of replacement batteries and light bulbs.
Moreover, if a light is placed upon a toilet seat lid cover, it projects outward in an uncomfortable position against a user in the sitting position.
As in Johnson '471, Herbruck '991 also has the disadvantage that the toilet seat lid covers are usually kept in a lifted up position, so the light is kept on constantly, resulting in energy waste and increased costs of replacement batteries and light bulbs.
Humble '443 describes a darkness sensitive night proximity light with a gravity actuated mercury switch, wherein the light is also attached to a toilet seat lid cover, which lid cover is also kept in an raised up position most of the time. Additionally, Humble '443 further describes a light sensor which closes in darkness to illuminate a toilet continuously throughout the night and a movement sensor, to indicate the presence of a person thereat.
Kulhavy '768 provides a switch for detecting water levels within a tank.
Santini '955 describes a toilet with a lighted mirror for medical observation.
Ogura '474 describes a toilet with a sensor in the water for detecting bodily wastes.
Warrington '742 describes an alarm indicator to advise a user to lower an elevated toilet seat. The warning indicator is activated by the flushing of the toilet. Similarly, Nee '419 describes a message indicator which fits under a toilet seat to advise a user that a toilet seat is in an up position.
Picon '178 describes an L-shaped toilet bowl light which attaches to the lower region of the seat, where it is closer to the unsanitary toilet bowl. Because the light is so close to the toilet bowl, the light also does not reflect light over the whole general area of the toilet.
Anderson '648 and Pattee '209 describe toilet bowl lights with cumbersome rim attachments. In Anderson '648, a horseshoe shaped web is placed upon the toilet bowl and in Pattee '209, a lighted transparent tube extends within the toilet bowl along its periphery, and is attached to the bowl by a plurality of attachment means.
Rauschenberger '962 describes a toilet bowl light which fits over the unsanitary toilet bowl rim, which light is activated by a lifting of a contact switch when the toilet seat is lifted up away from the rim.
Finally, Patrie '595 describes a complicated, color coded electronic sensor which senses the presence of a person, in darkness, to light the toilet bowl area.
In general, the prior art describes toilet seat lights which are placed upon or near the unsanitary toilet bowl rim, or upon the toilet seat cover, which results in energy waste since toilet seat lid covers are normally kept in an raised, up position. Other prior art patents also have the disadvantage of being activated by flushing, which requires auxiliary fluid mechanical components.
Moreover, none of the prior art devices provide auxiliary structural bumpers to retrofit the device upon a toilet seat, regardless of the size of existing bumpers.
In addition, none of the prior art devices describe a light body of a simple structural configuration which fits close to the plane of the underside of a toilet seat, as opposed to a toilet seat cover, wherein the configuration of the light emitting end maximizes light distribution therefrom while protecting the lamp bulb from external damage.